Switzerland shines at Jumping European Championships

Madrid, Sep 4 (EFE).- If Sweden dominated Jumping at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, it was Switzerland’s turn at the 2021 European Championships being held in Riesenbeck (Germany), with a victory in the team event and Martin Fuchs as favourite in the individual program.

Fuchs, riding Leone Jei, was delighted to win “another gold medal for his family,” after his father -current team trainer- had won the title in 1983.

The team final was hotly contested, with the hosts scoring well with very fast runs around the technical Riesenbeck course, which saw 2,100 people attending in the stands despite health restrictions.

After a complicated first run by Swiss rider Elian Baumann on Campari Z, with three fences down, and teammate Bryan Balsiger with one fence down, Germany’s Andre Thieme and Marcus Ehning rode two perfect rounds, and the title seemed destined for the home team.

However, in the second half of the competition, Germany picked up four penalty points and it was the turn for the top Swiss riders; first Fuchs and then 2012 Olympic champion Steve Guerdat with Albfuehren’s Maddox turning the tables.

“I got a bit nervous because I was running out of control with my horse, he got really strong after the line of the triple combination, and I had to really try to stay calm to bring him home without thinking of the result but getting him back together with me which I managed to do. The relief was great after that,” Guerdat said in an interview with the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).

In the fight for the bronze, reigning Olympic team champions, Sweden, and the winners at the 2019 European Championships, Belgium, battled for the medal with the Begians coming out on top with a 10-point lead mucho mloñbomnn. I n

The first qualification of the individual event 2021 European Championships is to be held on Saturday and the final on Sunday, with Switzerland’s Fuchs as defending champion and Sweden’s Peder Fredricson, the always dangerous Belgian rider, Jos Verlooy, and Germany’s Andre Thieme as the main contenders. EFE

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